The PokeMaster
by Y2Jen
Summary: The Pokemon Master returns home to raise his son Ash. But when he is killed by Giovanni out of jealousy, Ash's life is destroyed and he vanishes. Can he learn to cope to and become the true PokeMaster or will Giovanni destory the Pokemon World? *finished*
1. Ash Is Born

Ch. 1 Ash Is Born  
  
The Pokemon Master was returning from on high to celebrate with Pallet the birth of his son, and heir, Ash Ketchum. Prof. Oak arranged a party and all of town came. The Pokemon Master, who looked like Goku, came out with his wife and son to the cheers.  
  
"One day, my son will follow in my footsteps to become master." Mr. Ketchum said as the town cheered. Ash was scared, not knowing what was going on. "He will be remembered as one of the greatest trainers of all time, just like his old man." Only one man didn't celebrate, Giovanni. He was at his gym in Viridian City with his Persian. He got a Rattata and held it up. Persian growled and licked his lips with a grin.  
  
"Life's not fair is it?" Giovanni muttered to the Rattata. "You for see, I shall never be Pokemon Master. But you shall never see the light of another day. Oh you." He held the Rattata to Persian and he opened his mouth.  
  
"Didn't you ever tell your Pokemon not to play with his food?" A boy asked, Brock.  
  
"What do you want?" Giovanni sighed as Persian had Rattata's tail sticking out of his mouth.  
  
"I'm here to say that since the Pokemon Master is coming you'd better have a good excuse for missing his party." Brock growled. Persian moaned and forgot about the Rattata. It opened Persian's mouth and ran out the gym door.  
  
"Oh look Brock, you made Persian loose his lunch." Giovanni replied.  
  
"You're gonna loose more than that when Mr. Ketchum arrives." Brock pouted.  
  
"Oh how I quiver with fear." Giovanni grinned as Persian growled.  
  
"Uh, Giovanni, why is Persian stalking me and looking at me that way?" Brock asked as Persian roared and lunged for him. "Help!" He bit his leg.  
  
"Giovanni!" A voice called, the Pokemon Master. "Call him off."  
  
"Nice timing." Brock gulped as Persian released his hold and walked over to Mr. Ketchum with Giovanni.  
  
"Why if it isn't my old friend, on his return on high to mingle with us common trainers." Giovanni said as Persian paced around Mr. Ketchum.  
  
"Delia and I didn't see you at the party." Mr. Ketchum replied.  
  
"It was today?" Giovanni asked. "Oh I feel really awful, it slipped my mind." "Yea, well since you're the strongest trainer you should have been first in line." Brock countered, but hid behind Mr. Ketchum when Persian bared his teeth.  
  
"I was first in line, until that brat was born." Giovanni remarked as he and Persian leered at the hiding Brock.  
  
"That brat is my son." Mr. Ketchum cut in and Giovanni and Persian looked up. "He's the future Pokemon Master."  
  
"I'll practice my training." Giovanni and Persian walked off.  
  
"Don't turn you back on me guys." Mr. Ketchum warned.  
  
"Oh no sir, you shouldn't turn your back on me." Giovanni corrected. Mr. Ketchum growled and ran to block their path. Persian roared at him.  
  
"Is that a challenge?" Mr. Ketchum demanded.  
  
"Temper. I'd never dream of fighting you." Giovanni replied.  
  
"Pity, why not?" Brock grinned.  
  
"Well, as far as brains go I got the high trainers share, but when it comes to brute strength," Giovanni looked at Brock and Mr. Ketchum and turned. "I'm on the shallow end of the pool." He and Persian walked off.  
  
"You always know one, I know two." Brock sighed. "They always ruin special occasions."  
  
"What will I do with him?" Mr. Ketchum sighed as they left the gym.  
  
"You could turn Persian into a rug?" Brock joked.  
  
"Brock?" Mr. Ketchum grinned.  
  
"No, just think. If he ever gets dirty you can beat him or throw him in water. Cats hate that." Brock went on as Mr. Ketchum laughed. At Prof. Oak's house, he was listening to the storm coming outside. He picked up a paper on a clipboard and looked at it. He got a pencil and laughed a little.  
  
"Ash." He grinned as he wrote his name on the paper of future trainers. Along with his name was that of Prof. Oak's grandson Gary, a hard to read name, a boy named Damion and a girl named Melody. 


	2. Training Lessons

Ch. 2 Training Lessons  
  
The sun was just coming up and Ash opened the door and grinned. He ran back inside eagerly. Today was the day his dad promised to teach him all about Pokemon.  
  
"Dad? Dad?" Ash called in his parents' room early one morning. They're asleep. He repeats it over and over. "Dad, we gotta go." He comes over to their bed.  
  
"Your son's awake." Mrs. Ketchum whispered.  
  
"Before 7 you handle it Delia." Mr. Ketchum yawned. Ash growled and shoved his dad hard.  
  
"Wake up!" Ash pouted as his dad opened his eyes.  
  
"Ok, I'm up." He sat up as Ash ran out of the room. A while later he and Ash went outside. Mrs. Ketchum grinned as Ash hugged her and left with his dad. They stood on the high hill that was in front of their house. "Look Ash, everything you see is Pallet Town."  
  
"Whoa." Ash gasped as the sun shone on the town.  
  
"A Pokemon Master's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. So, one day Ash, the sun will set on my time on the throne and will rise with you as the Pokemon Master." Mr. Ketchum explained.  
  
"So everything will be mine?" Ash asked.  
  
"All of it." His dad nodded.  
  
"Everything." Ash whispered. "What about the area to the north?"  
  
"That's past Pallet's borders, you shouldn't go there." Mr. Ketchum growled.  
  
"But as the strongest trainer in the world, you should have a right to." Ash said.  
  
"Well, there's more to being king like than pushing your weight around." Mr. Ketchum laughed and began to walk off.  
  
"I get more?" Ash grinned.  
  
"Come on Ash." Mr. Ketchum called and they began to walk through town. "Every Pokemon and being here must live in balance, and as the ruler I must know and follow that balance, just like any other trainer would. Respecting the tiny Caterpie to the giant Onix."  
  
"But dad, don't we catch the Pokemon?" Ash cut in.  
  
"Yes Ash, let me explain fully." His dad replied. "We catch them, they obey us instead of fighting us. When we die our bodies go into the grass, and most Pokemon eat grass or grass derived things. What I'm trying to say is, we all live in a big circle web."  
  
"Hello guys." Brock called.  
  
"Oh hi Brock." Mr. Ketchum grinned.  
  
"I have a morning report." Brock held up a paper.  
  
"Shoot." Mr. Ketchum nodded.  
  
"Well, the buzz of Beedrill has risen so something might be up." Brock warned.  
  
"Really?" Mr. Ketchum looked a little confused. Ash yawned and saw a Diglett. He grabbed a small rock and threw it but missed. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Practicing." Ash whispered, looking for Diglett's new hole.  
  
"Let the pro give you a tip." Mr. Ketchum grinned.  
  
"I told the Phanphy to forget it, but it's always his fault." Brock went on.  
  
"Brock, turn around." Mr. Ketchum called.  
  
"Sure." Brock turned without realizing. "Persians and Arcanines are at war again."  
  
"Stay low undercover." Mr. Ketchum whispered.  
  
"You know cats and dogs." Brock was going on.  
  
"Now I just throw the rock?" Ash whispered.  
  
"What's going on?" Brock finally turned.  
  
"Trainer tips." Mr. Ketchum replied.  
  
"Oh no please don't be serious." Brock gulped but turned. "Why me."  
  
"Don't make a sound." Mr. Ketchum said.  
  
"What?" Brock turned at his voice but nobody seemed to be there. "Hello, guys?" Ash threw the rock and it hit Brock on the head. Mr. Ketchum laughed as Brock fell over.  
  
"Very good." Mr. Ketchum patted Ash. "Now, this time,"  
  
"Sir, there's Rockets in Pallet Town!" Brock called, getting a news flash.  
  
"Brock take Ash home." Mr. Ketchum growled and leaped up with a Pokeball.  
  
"Can't I go dad?" Ash asked.  
  
"No." His dad replied and ran off.  
  
"I never get to go anywhere." Ash slumped.  
  
"Young trainer, one day you'll be master. Then you can beat up those lousy, mangy, stupid poachers as long as you want." Brock said, taking him home. There, Ash found Giovanni under a tree.  
  
"Hey Giovanni, guess what?" Ash called.  
  
"I hate guessing games." Giovanni grumbled and turned.  
  
"I'm gonna be the next Pokemon Master." Ash boasted.  
  
"Woopdedoo." Giovanni sighed and lamely twirled his first finger.  
  
"Dad just showed me the town and it all and more will be mine." Ash laughed.  
  
"Well, I'd leap for joy but she's at the Pokemon Center." Giovanni grumbled in a joking way and flopped down.  
  
"Hey Giovanni, when I'm master, what'll you be?" Ash asked.  
  
"I'll be the laughing stock of the gym leaders association for having the best gym leader be beaten by you." Giovanni sighed.  
  
"Don't take it so hard." Ash frowned.  
  
"Oh, I wont." Giovanni grinned and got up. "So, your dad showed you everything?" Ash nodded yes. "What about the north?"  
  
"He said I can't go there." Ash shook his head no.  
  
"Well, he's right. It's far to dangerous, so only brave and strong trainers go there." Giovanni said slyly.  
  
"I am. What's," Ash started.  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you." Giovanni replied.  
  
"Why not?" Ash asked.  
  
"I'm only looking out for a future trainers like you." Giovanni said.  
  
"Yea right, I'm the only future trainer you know." Ash corrected.  
  
"That's more of a reason to protect you. The north field is no place for a novice to capture Pokemon." Giovanni replied. "Oops."  
  
"Pokemon?" Ash grinned. "Yea."  
  
"Oh dear you've heard too much, but I suppose you'd have found out from someone, since you're so smart." Giovanni grinned. "Just promise me you'll never go there." Giovanni turned Ash from running off.  
  
"Sure." Ash grinned slyly.  
  
"Good boy. Well, you go have fun, but remember, it's our secret." Giovanni called as Ash ran off to find Misty. "Pfft, kids." Giovanni grinned slyly he had a plan. 


	3. To Start Pokemon Training

Ch. 3 "To Start Pokemon Training"  
  
"Hey Misty!" Ash called, running up. She was with her sisters; they were giving her a makeover.  
  
"Hi Ash." Misty looked up to see him run through the townsfolk.  
  
"Come on, I heard about a great place." Ash whispered, noticing his mom was resting and he didn't wanna wake her for a certain reason.  
  
"Ash, my sisters are brushing my hair." Misty hinted.  
  
"And it's your turn." Ash heard his mom say. He cringed and tried to run off but she picked him up like an apple and brushed his hair.  
  
"Mom!" Ash squirmed but she held tight. "Mom, you're messing up my look." She let Ash down. "Ok, ok, I'm done so can we go now?" Ash shook his head and messed his hair up to look like it normally does.  
  
"This better not be another dumb hoax." Misty warned.  
  
"It's not, it's super cool." Ash assured.  
  
"Where's this super cool place?" His mom cut in.  
  
"Uh, by the lake?" Ash gulped.  
  
"The lake again, that wasn't very cool last time. What's new?" Misty cried.  
  
"I'll show you there." Ash whispered.  
  
"Ok." Misty nodded. "So, uh, can I go sisters?"  
  
"What do you think?" They asked Ash's mom.  
  
"Well," She started.  
  
"Please?" Ash and Misty begged.  
  
"It's cool." Mrs. Ketchum grinned.  
  
"Yea, alright!" They cheered and ran off.  
  
"If Brock goes to." Mrs. Ketchum grinned.  
  
"Aw, not Brock." Ash groaned. Soon the trio was off to the lake.  
  
"I'm on my break, I'm on my break. Why do I have to baby sit?" Brock moaned.  
  
"So, where are we going?" Misty asked.  
  
"The north fields." Ash replied.  
  
"Cool." Misty grinned.  
  
"Sh, Brock." Ash motioned.  
  
"Yea, how do we dump the nanny?" Misty asked and they began to plot. Brock heard and turned around.  
  
"Oh stop that you two, if your parents found out you were this bad I'd have a full time job as probation officer. You need to learn to act right so when you're bethroed," Brock scolded.  
  
"Be what?" Ash cocked his head.  
  
"You know, engaged and all." Brock replied.  
  
"Meaning?" Misty motioned her hand to keep going.  
  
"It means you're gonna be married." Brock laughed.  
  
"Yuck, ew." Ash and Misty gagged.  
  
"I can't marry a friend." Ash argued.  
  
"It's too weird." Misty nodded.  
  
"Sorry to be the one to break this to you so early, but it's customary for a Pokemon Master to marry a highly respected trainer such as gym leader." Brock said.  
  
"So, my mom was a gym leader?" Ash gasped.  
  
"No, she was the leader of the orange crew a long time ago." Brock recalled.  
  
"Well either way, that's the first rule I break as ruler." Ash grinned.  
  
"Too bad, love is my call to protect and I'm gonna be around as long as you are, like it or not." Brock countered.  
  
"Well then, you're fired." Ash joked.  
  
"Ha, nice try but you have not a stitch of power." Brock patted him.  
  
"Well, you shouldn't joke about him if he's the future master." Misty cut in.  
  
"Yea, if you wanna be on my good side you gotta do as I say." Ash boasted.  
  
"Not yet good sir." Brock growled. "Your pathetic attitude is showing me you don't have what it takes to be a good Pokemon Master of tomorrow indeed."  
  
"Ha, I see it a different way." Ash grinned and began to put their plan of a song of diversion into action. Ash began to corner Brock, singing.  
  
Ash: I'm gonna start training, so Team Rocket beware!"  
  
Brock: I've seen many masters; your skills don't match theirs.  
  
Ash: I'm gonna win each main event, slam my rivals to the floor. I'll stand up high and look down proud, and give my catlike roar.  
  
Brock: And what, Ash, are you calling this dream?  
  
Ash: To start Pokemon training.  
  
Brock: You've got quite a ways to go, you'll see.  
  
Ash: I'll win this,  
  
Brock: Listen to this,  
  
Misty: Everyone will be there.  
  
Brock: Nobody cares.  
  
Ash: They will see that,  
  
Brock: It takes time,  
  
Ash and Misty: I'm the best here.  
  
Brock: Stay right here!  
  
Ash: I can have fun and play all day,  
  
Brock: Hardly!  
  
Ash: When I have things my way.  
  
Brock: I think it's time to have a talk heart to heart.  
  
Ash: I don't need advice from you for a start.  
  
Brock: If he's gonna start training count me out. Out of service, out of the league, who'd want to hang about? Guys you need to be under my wing.  
  
Ash: To start Pokemon training. If you look left or look right, everywhere you'll see me, I'll be in a spotlight.  
  
Brock: Far from it!  
  
Other people: Trainers and Pokemon rejoice to sing, while Ash is soaring. He's Ash Ketchum, master to be.  
  
Ash and Misty: To start Pokemon training!  
  
The next thing Brock knew, everyone was gone and he was trapped in a tree.  
  
"Uh, somebody, anybody?" Brock called. "Ash, Misty?" They ditched him. 


	4. The North Fields

Ch. 4 The North Fields  
  
"Alright it worked." Ash panted.  
  
"We lost him." Misty cheered.  
  
"I'm a genius." Ash boasted.  
  
"Uh, Mr. Genius, it was my idea." Misty reminded.  
  
"Yea, so, I pulled it off." Ash added.  
  
"With me." Misty grinned.  
  
"Oh yea?" Ash growled with a grin and jumped on her. She tricked him and flipped him over.  
  
"Got ya." Misty pinned him.  
  
'Let me up." Ash kicked out. He grinned and when she turned her back he jumped on her again. This time they fell down a hill, but Misty still flipped him over.  
  
"Got ya again." She grinned. A geyser shot a sprout of hot steam next to them and snapped them to their senses. They got up and looked around.  
  
"This is it, we made it." Ash whispered and they climbed onto a rock.  
  
"Cool." They grinned. The whole area was covered with tall golden grass, giant rocks and bushes and trees, cliffs and canyons. A perfect home for many Pokemon.  
  
"This is so cool." Misty said.  
  
"Yea, I knew it was great." Ash turned to her.  
  
"We could get busted." Misty grinned.  
  
"I know." Ash laughed. They turned around and saw a cave.  
  
"I wonder if there's any Pokemon in there." Misty wondered.  
  
"Just one way to know, let's check it out." Ash went over.  
  
"Stop!" Brock suddenly appeared. "The only check you're getting isn't one from in there." Brock began to shove them away.  
  
"Aww." They groaned.  
  
"We're far out of Pallet bounds." Brock gulped.  
  
"Aw, Brockey boy is scared." Ash laughed.  
  
"That's Mr. Brockey boy to you fuzzy." Brock growled. "But right now, we are all in danger if we don't take a hike."  
  
"Danger." Ash laughed and wandered to the cave. "Watch me laugh in the face of danger. Ha, ha, ha!" Ash laughed into the cave. His echo turned into different laughter. Ash gasped and jumped behind Brock and Misty as another trio appeared. Rockets.  
  
"Well now James, what do we have here?" The red haired girl grinned.  
  
"I dunno Jessy, what do you think Meowth?" The blue haired boy replied.  
  
"Trespassers." Meowth grinned. He was the only talking Pokemon.  
  
"Yea, just what I was thinking." James stepped before the trio.  
  
"Just a map error." Brock gulped.  
  
"Hey, I know you. You're Mr. Ketchum's snitch." Jessy grabbed Brock.  
  
"I beg to differ good sir." Brock growled, emphasizing on sir.  
  
"So you are," James turned to Ash.  
  
"Future Pokemon Master." Ash pouted.  
  
"So you wanna be the best trainer?" Jessy grinned as they began to circle them.  
  
"Yea, so, what can you do to me?" Ash growled.  
  
"Uh, as they wish since we're in their territory." Brock replied.  
  
"But you said they were nothing buy lousy, mangy, stupid poachers." Ash said.  
  
"Ixnay." Brock whispered.  
  
"What's ixnay?" James asked.  
  
"Oh, uh, look at the time. It's time to go." Brock began to run.  
  
"Why the hurry, we'd love to have you stay and fight." Jessy stopped him.  
  
"Yea, we could battle with Pokemon." James laughed. "Get it, since they're too young to start training."  
  
"No, no I have one. Let's layeth the smacketh downeth. What do ya think?" Jessy laughed.  
  
"Hey, hey, guys?" Meowth jumped in and punched them both.  
  
"What now lionheart?" Jessy stopped laughing.  
  
"Hey, did we hold a submission move?" James asked, rubbing his face.  
  
"No, why?" Jessy replied as Meowth held her in a headlock.  
  
"Cause they tapped out." James pointed to the fleeing trio. They were only able to grab Brock.  
  
"Did we loose them?" Ash panted.  
  
"I think, but, where's Brock?" Misty asked.  
  
"Help!" Brock cried and they ran over.  
  
"Before we work out to practice for our match, how about we take a load off in the steam box." Jessy and James held Brock over a geyser.  
  
"That's no steam box." Brock gulped and was blasted into the air. Team Rocket laughed and fell over.  
  
"Hey, why don't you pick on a worthy wrestler?" Ash pounded a fist into his hand and attempted a Y2J pose. Team Rocket stopped and looked up to see Ash and Misty.  
  
"Like you?" Jessy grinned.  
  
"Uh," Ash gulped. Misty screamed as Team Rocket began to chase them.  
  
"Boo!" Meowth cornered them and Ash and Misty ran another way. Meowth growled as they chased after. Ash and Misty made a long jump to another cliff and began to climb. Team Rocket was gaining but Ash was almost to the top.  
  
"Ash!" Misty screamed as she slipped down. Jessy ran fast, but Ash slid down the hill bravely to come to his friends' aid. He stepped in front of Jessy and punched her jaw. The duo escaped. Jessy growled angrily as Team Rocket began the pursuit again. Soon Ash and Misty were cornered. Ash crouched down like a cat and stood in front of Misty to protect his friend.  
  
"Aw, here kitty." James joked, seeing Ash. Ash pouted and stood up. He tried growled and tried a take down on James. Ash merely hurt himself and fell back.  
  
"That was it?" Jessy laughed. "Come on, try it again." Ash growled but a different kind of roar echoed through the field.  
  
"Hu?" Misty and Team Rocket gasped thinking it was Ash. It was really the roar of a Raichu's electricity against the walls of the canyon. The next thing Team Rocket knew, somebody strong was pounding them, Mr. Ketchum and his Raichu.  
  
"Oh please, ow, stop sir." James cried.  
  
"Shut up!" Mr. Ketchum roared and his Raichu's cheeks glowed.  
  
"We're really sorry." Jessy gulped.  
  
"If you ever try to hurt my son again," Mr. Ketchum started.  
  
"This is your son? Did you know that?" James asked falsely.  
  
"Your son, no. Did you know?" Jessy replied.  
  
"Oh, of course not." James gulped.  
  
"Meowth?" Jessy and James asked.  
  
"Uh, yea." Meowth nodded yes. Mr. Ketchum's Raichu yelled and sent sparks flying. Team Rocket hugged each other in fear.  
  
"We're blasting off again." James gulped and they ran off. Brock nodded to Mr. Ketchum. He returned his Raichu and leered at Brock, he cowered.  
  
"Dad, uh," Ash came up.  
  
"You disobeyed me." Mr. Ketchum whirled around sharply.  
  
"Dad, I'm sorry." Ash sighed.  
  
"Let's go home." Mr. Ketchum growled. Brock shrugged at Ash and they began to start on their way home.  
  
"I thought you were brave." Misty tried to comfort Ash. As they left, Giovanni was watching.  
  
"Brock, take Misty home. I have to teach my son a lesson." Mr. Ketchum said.  
  
"Yes sir. Come on Misty. Good luck Ash." Brock took Misty away.  
  
"Ash?" Mr. Ketchum called. Ash slunk over and stumbled in a hole. He looked down to see it was the footstep of his dad in the drying mud. His was much smaller, it made him feel weak and useless. He looked up at his dad. "You disobeyed me Ash."  
  
"I know." Ash sighed and breathed deep to try not to cry.  
  
"Why did you do that, you put Misty and Brock in danger." His dad replied.  
  
"I wanted to show I was brave like you." Ash slunk his shoulders.  
  
"I'm brave when I have to be. Being brave doesn't mean you need to find trouble to prove it." Mr. Ketchum explained.  
  
"Being brave means you're not afraid of anything." Ash replied.  
  
"Today I was, I though I lost you." Mr. Ketchum said.  
  
"You were? I guess brave people can get scared." Ash nodded. "But you wanna know something?" Mr. Ketchum grinned. "Team Rocket was scareder."  
  
"That's because nobody messes with your dad." Mr. Ketchum laughed and grabbed Ash and began to give him a noogie. Ash cried out in a half laugh, half struggle and managed to get free. His dad laughed as Ash chased him. "Got me!" Ash tackled him and they both fell on the grass. They laughed as they lay on the grass looking up.  
  
"Dad, we're pals right?" Ash asked all of a sudden, releasing his strangle hold.  
  
"Right Ash." Mr. Ketchum laughed at his very amature son.  
  
"So we'll always be together right?" Ash asked.  
  
"Ash," Mr. Ketchum began, not knowing how to put it. "Let me tell you something my dad told me. Look at the stars, those stars are all the great Pokemon Masters of the past looking down on us."  
  
"Really?" Ash gasped.  
  
"Yes." Mr. Ketchum went on. "So, whenever you feel lost or alone, just remember that they are here to help you. And so will I."  
  
"Wow." Ash said quietly as he stared in awe.  
  
"Now let's get home so we don't worry your mom." Mr. Ketchum got up.  
  
"Ok dad." Ash grinned and followed him. "Arm lock!" Ash jumped on his back and tried to attempt another submission hold.  
  
"You watch too much TV kid." His dad laughed and pulled him off. 


	5. Giovanni Sings His Plan

Ch. 5 Giovanni Sings His Plan  
  
"Man, that lousy Pokemon Master, I'm gonna hate electric Pokemon forever." James grumbled, looking at a scratch on his arm from Raichu's tail. Meowth just laughed at James' stupidity. "It's not funny, shut up." Meowth paid no mind and kept laughing. "Hey!" James growled and tackled him and they began to wrestle.  
  
"Would you guys cut it out?" Jessy asked.  
  
"He started it." James pointed to Meowth who was pulling his own leg.  
  
"Look at you morons, no wonder we can't even get on the towns most wanted list." Jessy grumbled.  
  
"Man, I hate being losers." James pouted.  
  
"You know, if it weren't for those higher trainers we'd be running the world." Jessy added.  
  
"I know. I hate higher trainers." James nodded.  
  
"They're so pushy." Jessy sighed.  
  
"And stupid." James grinned.  
  
"And stinky." Jessy grinned.  
  
"And ugly." Jessy and James laughed.  
  
"Oh, surely not all higher trainers are that bad." A voice cut in.  
  
"Boss, it's just you." James turned.  
  
"Yea, we thought it might be somebody important." Jessy turned.  
  
"Yea, like Mr. Ketchum." Meowth shuddered.  
  
"I see." Giovanni scowled.  
  
"Now that's power." James replied.  
  
"I know, I just hear that name and I shudder." Jessy shivered.  
  
"Mr. Ketchum." James grinned.  
  
"Ooohh, do it again." Jessy grinned.  
  
"Mr. Ketchum." James repeated over and over, Jessy shudder with a grin. Meowth keeled over and laughed, pounding a fist on the ground.  
  
"Tell me about it. It tingles me." Jessy laughed.  
  
"Why do I pay my company to idiots?" Giovanni wondered aloud.  
  
"No, not you boss, you're one of us pal." James replied.  
  
"Charmed." Giovanni said absentmindedly, rolling his eyes.  
  
"I like that in a guy. He's not Pokemon Master but he's still so proud." Jessy grinned. All of a sudden, their stomachs growled.  
  
"Uh boss, did you bring us anything to eat pal?" James asked.  
  
"You don't deserve it." Giovanni pulled out a bag of Burger King, Taco Bell and KFC. Team Rocket's eyes lit up. "I give you a rookie Rocket task and you can't even do it right." Team Rocket began to eat.  
  
"Well you know it wasn't exactly like they were alone." Jessy said as she ate a taco.  
  
"Yea, what are we supposed to do next, kill Mr. Ketchum?" James grumbled as he swallowed a drumstick.  
  
"Exactly." Giovanni grinned; his eyes gleamed with an evil idea. Everyone looked up confused. Giovanni stood up and slid down the cliff wall. Meowth grabbed the bags of food and the trio scattered. Giovanni decided he should sing his plot to make it clear.  
  
Giovanni: I know that your point on rebellion is to be on the opposite side. But as dumb as you are, pay attention; everyone will respect me with pride. It's clear from your confused expressions, you might not be all aware. We are talking Pokemon Master succession, so not even you can be caught unprepared. This event is a chance of a lifetime, this event is glorious news. A brand new era, is drawing nearer.  
  
James: Does Team Rocket feature?  
  
Giovanni: Just listen to teacher. I know this sounds horrid, but you'll be rewarded. Alas I will get what is due. And when the clock strikes the hour, I'll rise to power.  
  
James: Rise to power, yea that's right. How?  
  
Giovanni: With the death of the Pokemon Master.  
  
James: Why is he sick, hurt?  
  
Giovanni: No fool we're gonna kill him, and Ash too.  
  
Jessy: Great idea, who needs a ruler.  
  
Trio: No master, no master!  
  
Giovanni: Idiots, there will be a master.  
  
James: Yea but you said..uh,  
  
Giovanni: I will be Pokemon Master. Help me and I'll see you're never persecuted again.  
  
Jessy: Yea, alright.  
  
All Team Rockets: Long live the Pokemon Maser! It's great that we'll soon be headed, by a master who all will adore.  
  
Giovanni: But of course we know we're expected, to take a certain duty on board. Our future is like first prize, and we've gained the victory. But the point I must emphasize is, you'd all be nothing without me! So prepare the coupe de tat, prepare this wonderful scam. We've done all the planning, Team Rocket's expanding. Ash'll be in denial, simply while I'll, be master undefeated, respected, saluted, and seen as the wonder I am. Just like dictators in revolutions, I'll rise to power.  
  
Everyone: Like dictators in revolutions, we'll rise to power! 


	6. Till Death Do We Part

Ch. 6 Till Death Do We Part  
  
"Wait here Ash." Giovanni said the next day as he took Ash into a deep canyon. "I hear your dad has a wonderful surprise for you."  
  
"What is it?" Ash asked.  
  
"Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" Giovanni grinned.  
  
"If you tell me, I'll still act surprised." Ash grinned slyly.  
  
"You're one naughty boy." Giovanni laughed.  
  
"Come on, please?" Ash begged.  
  
"No, it's just between you and your dad. It's one of those father son things." Giovanni said, not knowing a whole lot on family life. "So, I'll go get him."  
  
"I'll go too." Ash stood up from the rock.  
  
"No, just stay here. You don't want to get into another mess like you did with Team Rocket." Giovanni reminded.  
  
"You know that?" Ash gasped.  
  
"Please Ash, everyone knows that." Giovanni replied.  
  
"Really?" Ash sulked.  
  
"Oh yea." Giovanni grinned. "Lucky you're dad saved you hu. Oh, just between us, you might want to work on you cat impression."  
  
"Oh, ok." Ash blushed. "Uh, will I like this surprise?"  
  
"Ash let me say it's to die for." Giovanni hinted and walked off. Above the canyon, a herd of many Pokemon was grazing, and Team Rocket was watching.  
  
"Shut up." Jessy growled at James' Koffing.  
  
"He can't help it, they wanna fight." James complained.  
  
"Stay put." Jessy said to her Ekans.  
  
"Can't they just get a tiny Caterpie?" James moaned.  
  
"No, we wait for the signal from the boss." Jessy said, Meowth pointed up. "Look, there he is. Let's go." They five ran out of hiding and attacked the herd.  
  
"Cat impression." Ash sighed. The same Diglett from the other day popped out of the ground and crawled about. Ash tried to scare him with his cat meow roar. Diglett just ignored the irritating annoyance. Ash tried again but got an idea. He pounced up and took a deep breath. He got on top of the Diglett and he went into the hole, Ash gave a loud roar in the hole and Diglett scampered off. Ash grinned as his impression faded down the canyon. His grinned turned upside down as his ears perked up to a louder sound. He gasped and looked up as the herd was running down the canyon wall and at him. He bolted off, knowing he had to be faster if he wanted to survive in front of this river of Pokemon.  
  
"Yea, we got them!" Meowth cheered as he and Koffing and Ekans sent the last Pokemon down the canyon. Team Rocket watched and stood tall with pride.  
  
"Hmm, looks like a herd is having a race." Brock said, seeing the cloud of smoke.  
  
"Ah." Mr. Ketchum turned with a grin, eager to go watch.  
  
"Ketchum, quick. Hurry, there's a stamped in the canyon and Ash is in there." Giovanni cried, as he seemed to appear out of nowhere.  
  
"Ash?" Mr. Ketchum gasped. No sooner as he heard, Brock bolted off to see if his friend was alright. Mr. Ketchum and Giovanni ran after him. In the canyon, Ash had been taken into the stamped and would have been trampled unless he hadn't managed to climb up a weak dead tree. Brock came to the scene first and he and Ash saw each other.  
  
"Brock, help me!" Ash cried, struggling to keep hold.  
  
"Don't worry, help is here." Brock assured.  
  
"Hurry, I can't hang on much longer!" Ash yelled. Mr. Ketchum approached Brock and he looked around the canyon to see the gigantic herd in panic.  
  
"He's on that tree there." Brock pointed. Giovanni grumbled.  
  
"Hang on Ash!" Mr. Ketchum cried. Ash didn't hear, he had screamed as a Pinser hit the tree. Without thinking of his own safety, Mr. Ketchum jumped into the canyon.  
  
"Oh Giovanni, this is awful, what do we do?" Brock thought as they watched Mr. Ketchum struggle through the herd. "I know, I'll go back for help!" Brock turned to run but Giovanni socked him hard against the wall and he was out cold. Mr. Ketchum saw that he had run past the tree and had to turn around. He skidded in front of a Fearow and began to head back. He looked up to see Ash's position when a Zubat hit him down. Mr. Ketchum grumbled and gasped as he looked up. Ash's tree was broken by a Magnemite.  
  
"Hu?" Ash gasped as he was flung into the air. He looked down and saw the flood of Pokemon below him and screamed, "Ah!"  
  
"Got ya!" Mr. Ketchum growled as he ran and leaped into the air.  
  
"Hu?" Ash turned his head to see his dad. Giovanni was watching impatiently but eagerly, waiting to see what would happen to cause death. A Golbat tackled Ash and his dad from behind. They cried out as they were separated again. Ash gasped and evaded Pokemon who tried to hit him. He turned around just as his dad picked him up and leaped onto a ledge. Suddenly he roared in pain and the herd dragged him back down. "Dad!" Ash searched franticly with his eyes and grew worried. His dad wasn't thought to come back out, but he gave a cry out and leaped from the herd. He was able to grab another ledge and cringed his teeth in pain as he struggled up the cliff. Ash climbed too, to get to the top first and help his dad up. But, somebody else was at the top, his dad looked up.  
  
"Giovanni!" Mr. Ketchum called, but he didn't move. Mr. Ketchum began to slip as he lost balance from the pain of the herd. "My friend, help me." The footholds he was using gave loose and the rock began to crumble. Giovanni grabbed his wrists tight and he growled in pain. Mr. Ketchum gasped, confused, and looked up.  
  
"Long live the Pokemon Master." Giovanni grinned evilly. Mr. Ketchum's eyes widened in fear and he gasped, no longer confused of the situation. Giovanni let go and Mr. Ketchum lost his grip. He waved his arms wildly to try to find something to grab, but to no prevail, he slipped back and fell. He yelled as he fell, so did Ash as he watched his dad plummet to his death. Ash waited until the herd left to find his dad.  
  
"Dad?" Ash repeated. Ash turned to see a slacking Poliwrath and Vileplume. They ran off and passed Ash's dad. Ash gulped, afraid, and walked over. Ash looked at his dad's motionless body, too young to understand the concept of death. "Dad, you gotta get up, we gotta go home?" Ash tried franticly to wake him but was to confused and afraid. "Help." Ash sobbed as he walked over to his dad and sat next to him.  
  
"Ash." Giovanni said as he came out of the dusty smoke. "What have you done?" Ash turned around and stood up.  
  
"There was a herd and he tried to save me." Ash sniffed and looked at his dad. "It was an accident I didn't mean to happen."  
  
"Of course you didn't. Nobody ever means for these things to happen But the Pokemon Master is dead." Giovanni said. Ash looked up in disbelief. "If it weren't for you he'd still be alive. What on earth will your mom think?"  
  
"What should I do?" Ash asked.  
  
"Run away Ash, and never return." Giovanni advised. Ash looked at his dad and ran off, not daring to look back at the damage he thought he had caused. Giovanni grinned as Team Rocket came over. "Kill him." They ran after Ash. Ash turned, panting.  
  
"Well, well, well." Jessy grinned as they approached. Ash recognized them and ran. James grinned as Meowth ran at Ash with his claws. He growled and slashed but Ash climbed a cliff wall so Meowth missed. Ash looked down; there was another cliff on the other side of the canyon wall. Ash gasped, he had no choice. Go back and be destroyed by Team Rocket or roll down the steep cliff. Ash chose the cliff and lunged down to roll to safety. Team Rocket wasn't that dumb, they simply slid down the cliff. Ash rolled into a pack of thorn bushes and covered himself. He was small so he wasn't hurt too badly.  
  
"Whoa!" James pointed at the thorns. Ash saw his chance to escape; he crawled through the thorns and got to the desert like terrain on the other side. Team Rocket had skidded to a stop. James sighed in relief as he just missed the thorn pack by inches. Jessy slammed into his back, followed by Meowth and James was thrown into the bunch. "Ow!" James cried as he crawled back out. Jessy and Meowth just laughed.  
  
"Hey look, there he goes." Jessy pointed.  
  
"There he goes." Meowth looked.  
  
"So, go get him." James grumbled.  
  
"There's no way I'm gonna go in there. I'll come out looking like you, a cactus." Jessy laughed.  
  
"We have to finish this job." James warned.  
  
"Let the sun finish it for us." Meowth said as he picked up a thorn.  
  
"Well he's as good as dead out there anyway. Plus, if he comes back, we'll kill him." Jessy replied.  
  
"Yea." James called out to Ash. "Hear us, if you ever come back we'll kill you!" Ash heard and ran as fast and far as he could. Team Rocket laughed as they returned to Pallet where Giovanni was addressing the news.  
  
"Mr. Ketchum's death is a terrible tragedy, but to loose Ash, who has barely begun to live, to me is a great amount of loss." Giovanni said as the town lowered their heads for a moment of silence. Misty's sisters and Brock tried to comfort the sobbing, heartbroken Mrs. Ketchum and Misty. "But, out of the ashes of this tragedy, we'll rise to greet the dawning of a new era." The town gasped and looked up as Rockets appeared from everywhere. "Trainer and Rocket will join as one to work together in a great future." The town cowered as they watched helplessly as Giovanni took his place as the Pokemon Master. Prof. Oak watched from his house and shook his head. He wiped a tear and picked up the clipboard. After looking at it for a few seconds, he slowly turned the pencil upside down, and erased Ash Ketchum's name from the list. He set it away. 


	7. Tracey And Todd

Ch. 7 Tracey and Todd  
  
Ash had run for hours and many miles into the desert. Soon, tired from lack of food, and the heat and no water caused dehydration, he collapsed under the hot sun. A pack of Fearow swooped down to investigate a possible breakfast when a cry was heard.  
  
"Get out a here!" It yelled. The Fearows scattered when two boys appeared and chased them away.  
  
"Yea, I love scaring those Fearow." The other boy said, he wore a camera on his neck and had short brown hair.  
  
"Gets them every time." The older boy laughed, he had short black hair.  
  
"Uh oh, hey Tracey better come here, I think it's alive." The first boy called.  
  
"Ew." Tracey came over and looked Ash over. He nudged his arm with his foot to reveal his face and trainer cap. "Ah, it's a trainer! Run Todd, move it!"  
  
"Hey Tracey, he's too young to be a trainer. Look at him; he's so small and alone. Can we keep him?" Todd asked, treating Ash like a cat or dog pet.  
  
"Todd are you nuts, trainers raise violent Pokemon and beat up guys like us." Tracey shuddered.  
  
"But he's young." Todd replied.  
  
"He'll grow up." Tracey added.  
  
"Maybe he'll be on our side." Todd suggested.  
  
"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard." Tracey laughed, then realized it was a good idea. "Hmm, what if he was on our side? You know, having a trainer around might not be such a bad idea after all."  
  
"So can we keep him?" Todd asked.  
  
"Of course." Tracey grinned. "Well, I'm fried, let's go find some shade." Tracey and Todd picked up Ash and went to the edge of their hometown where a pond and tree was. Tracey splashed a wave of water onto Ash. He woke up and coughed and sputtered. "You ok kid?"  
  
"I guess so." Ash cleared his throat and let his eyes come into focus.  
  
"You almost died out there." Todd warned.  
  
"I saved you." Tracey boasted, Todd nudged him. "Todd helped a little."  
  
"Thanks anyway." Ash stood up wobbly and walked off.  
  
"Uh, where you going?" Tracey called.  
  
"Nowhere." Ash turned and kept walking.  
  
"Man, he looks blue." Tracey sighed.  
  
"To me he looks light tan." Todd corrected.  
  
"No, blue as in depressed." Tracey defined.  
  
"Kid, what's fighting you?" Todd ran over.  
  
"Nothing, he's not a trainer yet." Tracey joked. "So, where you from?"  
  
"What does it matter, I can't go back." Ash replied.  
  
"You're an outcast to? Cool, so are we." Tracey grinned.  
  
"What did you do?" Todd asked.  
  
"Something to terrible I don't wanna talk about." Ash shivered.  
  
"Good, we don't wanna hear it." Tracey grinned.  
  
"Tracey." Todd growled. "Anything we can do to help?"  
  
"Only if you can change the past." Ash sighed.  
  
"You know, in times like this, Tracey says..uh." Todd started.  
  
"Quiet amateur." Tracey cut in. "I say put your past behind you. Look, we all know bad things happen and you can't do anything about them. Right?"  
  
"Right." Ash sighed.  
  
"Wrong!" Tracey corrected. "When the world turns its back on you, you just turn your back on the world."  
  
"I never heard that before." Ash cocked his head.  
  
"Maybe you need a lesson." Tracey stood tall. "Just repeat after me. Our motto,"  
  
"Your what?" Ash cut in.  
  
"Our motto." Todd repeated. "We have no problems or troubles living it."  
  
Tracey: Our motto, is our own special phrase,  
  
Todd: Our motto, helped us pass hard days,  
  
Tracey: We had no worries or troubles to drive us a craze.  
  
Todd: We lived problem free, just trust me.  
  
Tracey: Our motto.  
  
Ash: Our motto?  
  
Todd: Yea, our motto.  
  
Ash: What's a motto?  
  
Tracey: Nothing, what's a matta with you?  
  
Todd: You know kid; our motto will help you with any problem.  
  
Tracey: Why, take Todd for example. When he started photography, he found his first photos had a certain appeal; he would make all the critics laugh and keel.  
  
Todd: I was a rookie then and didn't fit in, now I'm a pro and all my pictures win. First I had shame, now a popular name. When I first tried, I was sad and cried.  
  
Tracey: Hey, don't start the waterworks in front of the kid.  
  
Todd: Oh, sorry.  
  
Ash: ?  
  
Both: Our motto, is our own special phrase. Our motto, helped us pass hard days.  
  
Ash: You had no worries that drove you a craze.  
  
Tracey: Yea, sing with me kid.  
  
Tracey and Ash: We lived problem free,  
  
Todd: Trust me.  
  
All: Our motto.  
  
Tracey: Welcome to our humble home of Crimson City.  
  
Ash: You live here in this abandoned, gray city?  
  
Tracey: We live wherever we want.  
  
Todd: You'll get used to it.  
  
Ash: Whatever you say.  
  
Todd: Well, I say I'm starved.  
  
Ash: I agree, I can raid out Burger King.  
  
Tracey: Uh, Burger king went out of business.  
  
Ash: How about Taco Bell, KFC?  
  
Tracey: Uh-uh.  
  
Ash: Nothing like a Wendy's or anything?  
  
Tracey: No, nope. Uh, we didn't tell you about the food here? Well, lets show him.  
  
Ash: Uh, those are old.  
  
Tracey: We prefer the nice term of preservatives.  
  
Ash: Eating old food? That's gross.  
  
Tracey: Chicken tastes like chicken.  
  
Todd: It has an acquired taste.  
  
Tracey: These are all delicious. Hm, the pecans still have their crunch.  
  
Todd: You'll learn to love it.  
  
Tracey: I'm telling you, this is the good life. No rules or responsibilities, oh, nothing can kill a twinkee, and best of all, no worries. Well kid?  
  
Ash: Oh well, so says our motto.old, yet yummy.  
  
Tracey: That's it. (time passes)  
  
Tracey and Todd: Our motto, our motto, our motto,  
  
Ash (now 10): We had no worries that drove us a craze,  
  
All: We lived problem free, trust me.  
  
Todd: Our motto.  
  
Tracey: Our motto.  
  
Ash: Our motto.  
  
All: Our motto..  
  
And the trio walked off into the abandoned Crimson City, living the good life of freedom and old but still good food. The story of the town was everyone became Pokemon trainers and the other non-trainers were picked on and beat up so everyone left. Todd and Tracey's parents went to be trainers and so the boys waited for their return. 


	8. Pallet Or Crimson

Ch. 8 Pallet or Crimson  
  
"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows my sorrow." Brock was singing from inside a cage in Ash's house where Giovanni now reigned. Brock and Misty were older now too and had already received their first Pokemon.  
  
"Oh Brock, go lighten up, will you." Giovanni hit the cage. "Sing something with a little bounce to it."  
  
"Digimon, digital monsters," Brock sang loudly.  
  
"No, anything but that!" Giovanni yelled.  
  
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, here they are standing in a row." Brock began to sing the coconut song. "Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head." As Giovanni went on singing, Brock muttered, "I'd never have to do this for Mr. Ketchum."  
  
"What, did you say?" Giovanni growled and appeared at the cage.  
  
"Oh, uh, nothing." Brock gulped and cowered.  
  
"You know the law. Never, ever, mention that name in my presence. I'm the Pokemon Master!" Giovanni bellowed.  
  
"Yes sir, you are the master. I only mentioned it to tell the difference in your ruling skills." Brock whimpered.  
  
"Hey, boss?" a voice cut in, it was James. Team Rocket came in, they were older too.  
  
"What is it this time?" Giovanni grumbled.  
  
"We want to have a word with you." James pouted.  
  
"I'll handle this." Jessy stepped up. "Boss, there's no food or water."  
  
"It's dinner time, and we got nothing on the menu." James nodded.  
  
"It's the females job to do the shopping and cooking." Giovanni said.  
  
"Yea, but they wont obey." James reminded.  
  
"Fine, eat Brock." Giovanni joked.  
  
"Oh, don't have me, I'm so tough and tasteless." Brock laughed.  
  
"Really, all you need is some spices or something." Giovanni went on.  
  
"I thought things were bad under Mr. Ketchum." James whispered.  
  
"What did you say?" Giovanni yelled.  
  
"I said," James started and Jessy nudged him. "Oh, uh, how do we cook him?"  
  
"Good, just get out." Giovanni pointed.  
  
"Yea, but, we're still hungry." James added as they opened the door.  
  
"Out!" Giovanni yelled.  
  
"Yah!" Meowth whimpered and they ran out.  
  
Meanwhile, back in Crimson City, the trio laid on the grass to stargaze.  
  
"Man, I'm stuffed." Ash grinned and rubbed his full stomach.  
  
"Yea, I ate like a pig." Todd sighed.  
  
"Todd, you did eat a pig." Ash replied.  
  
"Oh right." Todd blushed. The trio let out a happy sigh and looked up. "Hey Tracey, ever wonder what those stars could be?"  
  
"Yea, but I don't wonder, I know." Tracey boasted. "They're almost like bright ashes from the trails of the night sky Zapdos flew on."  
  
"That's what they are, oh man." Todd sighed. "I always thought they were balls of gas energy and fire that gave of bright flashes of light from far away."  
  
"Todd, everything to you deals with a camera in some way." Tracey grinned.  
  
"Ash, what do you think?" Todd asked.  
  
"Well, I dunno." Ash shook his head. "Nah."  
  
"Aw come on, we told you ours, please?" Todd pleaded.  
  
"Yes." Tracey agreed.  
  
"Uh, somebody once told me, the Pokemon Masters of the past are up there to watch over us." Ash stopped, realizing what he was saying and who told him that.  
  
"Really?" Todd asked.  
  
"So, a bunch of dead rulers are watching us?" Tracey asked and he and Todd burst out laughing. Ash began to too, although it was false and forced laughter. "What dum-dum made that up?"  
  
"Yea, yea. Pretty dumb hu.yea." Ash stopped and looked back up. Tracey and Todd eventually stopped. Ash decided he needed a moment to be alone; he got up and walked to the edge of the cliff of the grass.  
  
"What I say?" Tracey looked to Todd. Ash looked at the stars and found a piece of paper on the ground. He made a paper airplane just like his dad taught him, and wrote Ash Airlines on it and with a sigh, threw it as hard and as far as he could. Later that night, it flew into Prof. Oak's window and hit him on the head in his bed. He groaned and woke up; he looked shocked and opened the paper, recognizing the paper airplane style.  
  
"Uh, hm?" Prof. Oak began but took a double take. It said Ash Airlines, Ash always made planes like that. He opened the paper to reveal the Crimson City logo. "What, Ash? He's alive? He's alive!" Prof. Oak cried happily and got up. He got dressed quickly and laughed as he came over to his chair. He picked up the pencil and looked at the clipboard. He laughed again, simply overjoyed, as he wrote down Ash Ketchum back in its proper place. "It's time." He got ready to set course to Crimson City the next day. 


	9. As Friendship Grows

Ch. 9 As Friendship Grows  
  
The next morning, Todd and Tracey couldn't find Ash anywhere, so they set search. But, they were sure they'd find them and knew their friend wouldn't leave them. They were so confident, they hummed and smiled as they walked through town. A Venomoth caught Todd's eye and he went after it to take a picture.  
  
"Hey Todd?" Tracey turned, not hearing him humming, but he was out of sight. Todd was right behind the Venomoth and he perched on a log. Todd heard a noise but stayed still, in order to take a perfect picture. He snapped and the Venomoth flew off.  
  
"Hmm." Todd looked at the photo. "This picture seems unprofessional, in other words, ugly." The bushes rustled again and a red haired, angry, girl appeared.  
  
"So, you think I'm ugly hu?" She growled. "Go Starmie!" She threw a Pokeball and before Todd knew anything else, he was screaming and running from the enraged trainer and her purple starfish.  
  
"Todd?" Tracey asked as he heard his cry and the trainer shouting. They met in front of a small ledge. "What's going on buddy?"  
  
"She's gonna pound me!" Todd yelled.  
  
"Who?" Tracey looked up to see the trainer and her Starmie. "Yikes!" They looked around but there was no escape. "Why do I always have to save your ah!" The Starmie spun and nearly hit them, but a figure jumped out of the bushes and onto the cliff and ultimately knocking the Starmie out.  
  
"Starmie return." The trainer growled and looked up with a gasp as the figure leaped from above the cliff, it was Ash. The duo began to fight and wrestle bitterly.  
  
"It's ok Todd, everything's gonna be fine." Tracey said as Todd peeked out from behind him. "Get her, hit her! Go for the neck, but watch your neck!" Tracey turned to Todd as he came out of hiding. "See, told you he'd come in handy." Ash made another lunge for the girl but she tricked him and pined him. Ash gasped and looked up, both of them panting and leering at each other.  
  
"Misty?" Ash whispered, catching his breath. The girl made a face and helped Ash up. "Is it really you?"  
  
"Who are you?" Misty asked.  
  
"It's me, Ash." Ash grinned.  
  
"Ash?" Misty replied, he nodded.  
  
"Whoa!" They slapped a high five. "How did you?"  
  
"Wow, where'd you come from?" Misty gasped.  
  
"Hey, it's great to see you." Ash laughed.  
  
"What's going on here?" Tracey asked Todd, he shrugged.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Ash asked.  
  
"What am I doing here, what are you doing here?" Misty corrected.  
  
"I said, what's going on here?" Tracey yelled.  
  
"Tracey, this is Misty, she's my best friend." Ash introduced.  
  
"Friend?" Tracey emphasized.  
  
"Yea." Ash said and turned to Todd. "Hey, come here." Todd came up slowly. "Misty, this is Todd. Todd, Misty."  
  
"Pleased to meet you." Todd grinned.  
  
"Pleasure is all mine." Misty smiled back.  
  
"How do you do," Tracey started, then yelled, "Hey wait, time out! Let me get this strait. You know her, she knows you, but she also wants to pulverize him. And, in the end, everyone's ok with it? What am I missing?"  
  
"Relax." Ash patted him and began to clear things up when Misty spoke up.  
  
"Wait until everyone knows you're here, and your mom, what will she think?" Misty asked.  
  
"She doesn't have to know, nobody does." Ash replied.  
  
"Why not, everyone thinks you're dead." Misty said.  
  
"They do?" Ash looked confused.  
  
"Yea, Giovanni told us about the accident with the herd." Misty lowered her voice.  
  
"He did?" Ash gulped. "What else did he tell you?"  
  
"What else matters other than you're alive?" Misty asked confused, then replied,  
  
"That means, you're the Pokemon Master."  
  
"Him?" Tracey cut in. "Misty, do you have your trainers crossed."  
  
"Pokemon Master?" Todd gasped. "Your majesty, I Graveler at your feet."  
  
"Don't." Ash growled.  
  
"Stop that it's grovel, not Graveler." Tracey corrected. "Besides, he's no ruler, are you?"  
  
"No." Ash sighed.  
  
"Ash?" Misty persisted.  
  
"I'm not the Pokemon Master. Maybe I could've been, but that was a long time ago." Ash began to walk off.  
  
"So, you're the Pokemon Master and you never said a thing about it?" Tracey asked.  
  
"I'm still the same guy, ok." Ash turned.  
  
"You have power." Tracey added.  
  
"Perhaps you can give us a moment?" Misty cut in.  
  
"Why, if she needs to talk to you, she can talk to us, right Ash?" Tracey asked.  
  
"Well, maybe you'd better go." Ash grinned.  
  
"There we go." Tracey walked off with Todd. "You think you know a guy."  
  
"That's Tracey and Todd for you." Ash asked but frowned when Misty turned away. "What is it?" Ash came to her.  
  
"It's like you're back from the dead." Misty looked up. "You don't know what this all means to everyone, or to me."  
  
"It's ok now." Ash grinned.  
  
"I missed you." Misty couldn't help but hug Ash. He gasped, confused.  
  
"I missed you too." Ash started to grin and gave a hug back.  
  
"I tell you, this isn't a Kodak moment." Tracey pouted in hiding.  
  
"Sorry." Todd put away his camera, he was cleaning it.  
  
"Not to you, to them." Tracey pointed. "Him, her, alone."  
  
"And that's bad because?" Todd shrugged.  
  
"I see what's going on, but they haven't a clue. They're falling in love and now the bottom line, the Three Musketeers are a duo." Tracey explained.  
  
"Who, what, where, when, why?" Todd looked confused.  
  
"Just look at the twilight, the zone is everywhere. So, with this perfect atmosphere, the disaster of romance is near." Tracey replied.  
  
"Oh." Todd sighed as they could do nothing but watch. Ash took Misty to the beautiful, not gray, part of the town. It was a beautiful garden with a lake, waterfall and pretty flowers and fruit trees. They both had songs of thoughts of confusion in their mind.  
  
Misty: We fell in love tonight. Together believing, that for once we're in harmony, this nice evening.  
  
Ash: How do I tell her, how to make her see, what's happened in my past? No way, she'd never believe me.  
  
Misty: What is he hiding, what's he trying to decide? Why can't he be the master I know he is, like the one I see inside?  
  
Both: We fell in love tonight. Together believing, that for once we're in harmony, this nice evening. We fell in love tonight. Why we had to wait so long, we're older now and not uncertain, that love's in who we are.  
  
"If they fall in love tonight, we can assume. That his fun with us is history." Tracey sniffed.  
  
"Soon our pal will be doomed." Todd sobbed. They watched them disappear into the garden as night came upon them. 


	10. Inconvincable

Ch. 10 Inconvincible  
  
"Isn't this a nice place?" Ash concluded the tour.  
  
"Yes it is, but what I don't get is, if you were alive, why didn't you return to Pallet?" Misty asked. Ash gave a confused frown but just sat on a bench.  
  
"I had to be on my own and live my own life. So I did, and it's great." Ash said.  
  
"We've really needed you." Misty sighed.  
  
"Nobody does." Ash frowned.  
  
"Yes we do, you're Pokemon Master." Misty replied.  
  
"No I'm not, Giovanni is." Ash pouted.  
  
"Ash, he let Team Rocket take over Kanto." Misty sat down. "Everything's destroyed and decimated. No food or water, Johto is almost half populated with Kanto residence, if not more."  
  
"What?" Ash was in shock, but then sighed. "Well, I can't go back."  
  
"Why not?" Misty complained.  
  
"You wouldn't understand." Ash got up. "It doesn't matter, so says our motto."  
  
"What?" Misty was really confused now.  
  
"Our motto is something I learned out here. Sometimes bad things happen and you can't do anything about them, so why worry." Ash defined.  
  
"Ash, it's your responsibility." Misty added.  
  
"Well, what about you, you left." Ash pointed out.  
  
"I left to find help, but found you." Misty pouted. "Don't you see, you're all we have."  
  
"Sorry." Ash muttered with a sigh and then walked off.  
  
"What's happened to you?" Misty growled. "You're not the Ash I remember."  
  
"Ok, I'm not. Are you satisfied now?" Ash grumbled.  
  
"No, I'm only more disappointed." Misty pouted.  
  
"You're starting to sound like my dad." Ash leered and walked off again.  
  
"Good, at least one of us does." Misty muttered. Ash heard and growled.  
  
"Look, you think you can just come up and tell me how to live my life?" Ash turned and yelled. "You don't even know what I've been through."  
  
"I would if you told me." Misty called after Ash, startled at his tone of voice.  
  
"Forget it." Ash yelled as he walked off to cool his head.  
  
"Fine!" Misty turned her back and pouted. Ash was alone in a big field.  
  
"What does she know, what does it matter. I can't go back, what would it prove anyway, you can't change anything. You can't change the past." Ash looked up. "You said you'd always be there for me, but you're not. It's because of me, it's my fault." As Ash stood in the field sniffing away his sorrows, Prof. Oak was nearing. He was humming and singing for joy, knowing he'd find Ash. Ash heard him coming and gave a miffed growl and walked off. Prof. Oak grinned from on a hill and saw Ash standing now by the lake. He threw a rock at him and it fell into the water.  
  
"Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander." Prof. Oak repeated.  
  
"Will you cut that out?" Ash growled and walked off.  
  
"Why cut it out, who do you choose?" Prof. Oak grinned.  
  
"Creepy old man." Ash saw him following him. "Will you, grr, who are you?"  
  
"No, I should be asking who you are?" Prof. Oak corrected. Ash opened his mouth to speak but didn't.  
  
"I thought I knew, now I'm not sure." Ash sighed.  
  
"I know three guys who know who you are. I can only reveal their names to you, so come close." Prof. Oak pulled Ash over and whispered. "Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander."  
  
"Enough, what does that mean anyway?" Ash jerked away.  
  
"They're the starter Pokemon you could have had." Prof. Oak hinted.  
  
"I think you're a little mixed up." Ash made circles by his forehead to say crazy.  
  
"Wrong, I'm not mixed up, you don't even know who you are." Prof. Oak added.  
  
"Oh, I suppose you do." Ash turned his back to him.  
  
"Sure do, you're Ketchum's boy." Prof. Oak grinned, Ash gasped and turned. "By." Prof. Oak ran off, happy now that he finally got the stubborn kids attention.  
  
"Hey, wait!" Ash ran after him and caught up. "You knew my dad?"  
  
"I know your dad." Prof. Oak corrected.  
  
"I hate to tell you this, but he died quite a while ago." Ash sighed.  
  
"No, wrong again, he's alive and I'll show him to you. Just follow Prof. Oak here, I know the way." Prof. Oak ran into a strange cave Ash had never seen before. Ash hesitated, but this man knew his dad, and the name Prof. Oak rang a distant bell. So, he followed. "Don't slow down, hurry up. Come on."  
  
"Hey, wait, would you slow down!" Ash called as he kept his eyes on Prof. Oak to not loose him. He often tripped or stumbled as he got hit by branches or bits of rock. Just as he thought he lost Prof. Oak he saw a small light ahead grow bigger.  
  
"Stop." Prof. Oak suddenly appeared and Ash skidded to a halt. "Go down there." Prof. Oak pointed to a small pond. Ash gulped and looked at Prof. Oak as he went to the water. Ash looked in and gasped, seeing a different face. But he sighed.  
  
"That's not my dad, only my reflection." Ash looked away, realizing now that a lot of time had passed and he was a lot older than he thought.  
  
"No, look harder." Prof. Oak insisted. Ash looked again and he saw the ripples change his face in the water to his dads. "You see, he lives in you." Prof. Oak said as Ash gasped. Clouds began to appear in the sky and take shape.  
  
"Ash." A distant voice called. Ash tensed as he heard the voice nearing.  
  
"Dad?" Ash looked up as the clouds formed his dad's face in the sky.  
  
"Ash, you've forgotten me." The ghost said.  
  
"What, how could I?" Ash was shocked at his dad's words.  
  
"You've forgotten who you are and hence forgotten me." The figure in the clouds explained. "Look at yourself Ash, you're more than what you've become. You must take your rightful place in life."  
  
"But how can I, I'm not who I used to be?" Ash asked.  
  
"Remember who you are, you are my son, the true Pokemon Master." His dad said as Ash watched in amazement. The wind began to blow the clouds away. "Remember." He said as he faded away.  
  
"No, dad, please don't leave me!" Ash called but it was too late.  
  
"What was that, very strange weather? I think so." Prof. Oak came up.  
  
"Yea, the wind changed." Ash noticed.  
  
"Change is good." Prof. Oak said.  
  
"But not easy. I know going back means I'll have to face my past, but I've been running from it for so long." Ash sighed; Prof. Oak hit him with a Pokeball. "Ow, man, what was that for?"  
  
"Why does it matter, it's in the past." Prof. Oak grinned.  
  
"So, it still hurts." Ash rubbed his forehead.  
  
"The past can hurt, but you can either run from it or learn from it." Prof. Oak threw another Pokeball, but Ash saw it coming so ducked. "You see, so, what are you going to do now?"  
  
"First, I'm gonna throw down your Pokeballs." Ash hit them off Prof. Oak's belt.  
  
"Hey, be careful." Prof. Oak caught them. "Hey, where are you going?"  
  
"I'm going back." Ash called, running for Pallet.  
  
"Good, go on, get out of here!" Prof. Oak cheered. The next morning, Misty found Tracey and Todd asleep.  
  
"Hey, guys, wake up." She called and stood above them. Tracey opened his eyes and the first thing he saw were the Pokeballs on her belt. He screamed and woke Todd and he screamed. "Whoa, it's me."  
  
"Don't do that again, ok?" Tracey sighed. "Geez, trainers."  
  
"Have you guys seen Ash?" Misty cut in, trying not to get mad.  
  
"Wasn't he with you?" Tracey asked.  
  
"Yea, but now he's gone. Have you seen him?" Misty asked.  
  
"You wont around here, he has returned." Prof. Oak appeared and was gone in a flash. Misty, Tracey and Todd turned to each other.  
  
"What's going on here, who's the geezer?" Tracey asked.  
  
"Ash has gone back to challenge Giovanni." Misty grinned. "I don't believe it!"  
  
"Who?" Tracey and Todd asked.  
  
"Giovanni. He's a gym leader." Misty replied.  
  
"The old guy's a gym leader?" Tracey gasped.  
  
"No, Ash has gone back home to beat Giovanni the gym leader, and take his place as Pokemon Master..eventually." Misty said fast and sighed to catch her breath.  
  
"Oh." Tracey and Todd understood. Ash meanwhile, was already in the desert. He was running as fast as he could go in order to make it back home in time. This time he didn't fall from thirst or tiredness, his motivation was too much for him to loose strength. 


	11. Showdown In Pallet

Ch. 11 Showdown in Pallet  
  
Ash took his first step back into Pallet and looked around. His faced was horrified at the gray and dismal town Pallet had become. Plants were dead and dying, the lake and river was a little puddle and stream, everything was decimated. Ash gasped at the sight and turned to the road to lead to his house. He growled, wanting his revenge.  
  
"Ash, wait!" Misty called from behind and ran up. "See how awful it is now?"  
  
"I didn't want to believe you." Ash sighed, hating himself.  
  
"Why'd you come back?" Misty asked.  
  
"I got some sense hit into me, and you can see the bump as proof." Ash grinned, then turned serious. "Besides, this is my hometown, if I don't fight for it, who will?"  
  
"I'll help." Misty put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"It's risky." Ash added.  
  
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Misty grinned.  
  
"What's this?" Tracey asked, coming up with Todd.  
  
"What are you guys doing here?" Ash asked as he and Misty turned.  
  
"Simply at your service." Todd shrugged.  
  
"So, we're gonna fight a gym leader for this?" Tracey smirked.  
  
"Yea, it's my home." Ash replied.  
  
"Well, it's a fixer upper, but, if it's important to you Ash, we're with you to the end." Tracey said. Ash grinned and they all looked out over Pallet as a storm brewed in the sky and in their hopes. They snuck up to Ash's street. "Rockets. I hate Rockets. So, do you have a plan to get rid of those guys?" Tracey asked as they neared.  
  
"A diversion." Ash looked at Tracey and Todd.  
  
"Good idea..hey!" Tracey growled.  
  
"Aw come on, you wanted to help." Ash countered.  
  
"What do you want me to do?" Tracey asked. "Advertise myself and Todd to them?" Ash looked at Tracey as if to say, exactly. So, the two jumped into the mess of Rockets. "Hey all, nobody can defeat my friend Todd here when it comes to battles."  
  
"Oh, all we are are a pair of weakling rich trainers with valuable Pokemon." Todd agreed. The Rocket's grinned and gathered around Todd and Tracey.  
  
"Run!" Tracey yelled and the duo was soon running from the mess of Rockets.  
  
"Misty, find my mom and your sisters. Go rally the town." Ash whispered as they snuck over. "I'll look for Giovanni." Misty nodded and they went in other directions.  
  
"Delia!" Giovanni was calling as Ash got on a hill above their house. Ash gasped and the pain of sorrow filled him as he saw his poor mom walk tall through the crowd of booing and cat calling Rockets.  
  
"What is it now?" Mrs. Ketchum grumbled, ignoring the jeers.  
  
"Where is our food, you females aren't doing your jobs." Giovanni growled.  
  
"There is no food, most people have moved away." Ash's mom replied.  
  
"No, just keep looking harder." Giovanni shook his head.  
  
"It's over, we have nothing left. Our only choice is to leave Pallet." She said.  
  
"We aren't going anywhere." Giovanni leered at her.  
  
"Then you are killing all of us!" Mrs. Ketchum yelled.  
  
"So be it." Giovanni turned his back to her.  
  
"You can't do that?" She gasped.  
  
"Since I am your ruler I can do what I please." Giovanni corrected.  
  
"If you were half the ruler my husband was," Delia started.  
  
"I'm ten times the ruler your husband was!" Giovanni hit her to the floor. Ash couldn't watch anymore. He stood up and the roar of the thunder made Giovanni turn. The flash of the lightning made Ash look like his dad. "Mr. Ketchum, but you're dead?" Ash ran down the ledge and kneeled by his mom. He nudged her and she opened her eyes, she looked up at Ash as he leered at Giovanni. Giovanni was cowering back.  
  
"My husband?" Delia grinned. Ash looked at her.  
  
"No, it's me mom." Ash corrected.  
  
"Ash, you're alive?" She gasped. "But, how can it be?"  
  
"What does it matter, I'm home." Ash hugged her.  
  
"Ash? Oh, it's a surprise to see you." Giovanni turned to Team Rocket. "Alive." They gulped and slunk into the other herd of Rockets. Delia watched with a grin.  
  
"Give me just one reason why I shouldn't rip you to shreds." Ash stalked Giovanni. Giovanni grinned and backed up against the wall of Ash's house.  
  
"Ash, you have to be reasonable to see that the pressures of being a ruler," Giovanni started.  
  
"Are no longer yours. Step down now." Ash finished.  
  
"I would naturally, but there's a problem." Giovanni pointed to the Rockets. "They put up a good argument. They said that I'm the second strongest I'm the new Pokemon Master. So, they think I'm ruler."  
  
"Well, we don't. Ash is Mr. Ketchum's son." Misty cut in. Ash and Giovanni turned to see her sisters helping up Mrs. Ketchum. "He's more a ruler than you."  
  
"Choose your fate Giovanni. Step down, or fight." Ash growled.  
  
"Must everything lead to violence, I'd hate to be responsible for a death of someone very close, don't you agree Ash?" Giovanni asked slyly.  
  
"That wont work, I've put it behind me." Ash said a little nervous.  
  
"What about your followers, have they put it past them?" Giovanni turned to Misty and her sisters.  
  
"What's he talking about?" She asked.  
  
"So, you haven't told them." Giovanni grinned and began to circle Ash, he looked at the ground. "Tell them your secret Ash, tell them all who killed your dad."  
  
"I did." Ash muttered. Everyone gasped, his mom walked over.  
  
"Is it true, tell me it's not true?" She asked in shock, Ash looked away.  
  
"It's true." He sighed.  
  
"You see, he admits he's a murderer." Giovanni persecuted.  
  
"No, it was an accident!" Ash yelled. Giovanni began to circle Ash again.  
  
"If it weren't for you your dad would still be alive, it's your fault he's dead. Do you deny it?" Giovanni asked, Ash shook his head no. "Then you're guilty." The girls watched helplessly as Giovanni was forcing Ash with words.  
  
"No, I'm no murderer!" Ash yelled.  
  
"Oh Ash, you're in trouble again, but this time, your dad can't save you." Giovanni began to corner Ash to the ledge in front of his house. "Now everyone knows why." Ash slipped off and a thunderbolt set fire to the dead grass below.  
  
"Ash!" Misty called. "I don't care what he says he's done, we can't let him die to right?" Misty turned to her sisters. Everyone continued to watch the tense struggle.  
  
"Now, this looks familiar, let me think where I've seen this before." Giovanni began to think for a moment. "Oh, I remember now. Yes, you look just like your dad before he died." Ash slipped and gasped, remembering the incident. Giovanni grabbed him just like had done to his dad. "Now, I have a secret to tell. I killed your dad."  
  
"No!" Ash yelled, remembering the last time he saw his dad alive. "Traitor!" Ash found the energy and strength to climb the ledge and pin Giovanni, everyone gasped.  
  
"Ash, please, no." Giovanni whispered.  
  
"Tell them." Ash insisted.  
  
"The truth? But it's in the eye of the beh.eh." Giovanni started but Ash stepped on his stomach and put his fist to his chest. "Ok, you win. I did it."  
  
"Louder so they hear you." Ash growled.  
  
"I killed Mr. Ketchum!" Giovanni admitted to the awaiting crowds. Misty, her sisters and Ash's mom ran to help Ash, the Rockets ran to help Giovanni and they attacked Ash. He roared in pain as Giovanni snuck away. The fight for Pallet had begun. 


	12. Ash vs Giovanni

Ch. 12 Ash vs. Giovanni  
  
Misty and the others got the Rockets off Ash so he could find Giovanni. Tracey and Todd appeared and began to fight the Rockets as well. One saw Ash running off so he grabbed him and began to strangle him. Ash yelled but a Pokeball hit the Rocket off. Ash looked up to see Prof. Oak, he joined the battle too, everyone was fighting. James was chasing Tracey into Ash's house, Brock saw from in his cage.  
  
"Let me out!" Brock repeated.  
  
"Let me in!" Tracey squeezed through the bars. Jessy and James grinned. "Please don't eat me. Todd?" Tracey saw Todd and Jessy and James turned.  
  
"Hey, who's the snap?" James asked.  
  
"Are you talking to me?" Todd growled.  
  
"Uh oh, he called him snap." Tracey whispered to Jessy. "You shouldn't have done that, now you're in for it."  
  
"They call me Todd, the photo master!" Todd tackled James and Tracey and Brock were freed. They began to fight. Outside the house, Meowth looked in the window nervously. He opened the door and Jessy and James crashed into him. They began to run but tripped over each other. Meowth whimpered and they all ran far off together to who knows where. "Get out of here you chicken Rockets!" Todd cheered. Tracey and Brock slapped high fives. Elsewhere, Ash had found Giovanni and was running after him. They soon were on top of the ledge above Ash's house. Giovanni skidded to a halt and looked down to the fight and fire below. He turned but Ash leaped from nowhere, cornering him.  
  
"You." Ash growled.  
  
"Ash please, I beg for mercy." Giovanni gulped.  
  
"Traitors don't deserve to live." Ash went on.  
  
"But I am a gym leader. I'm not the real enemy, it was the elite four that told me to take my rightful place again as master." Giovanni lied.  
  
"Why should I believe you, you always told me nothing but lies." Ash growled.  
  
"What will you do, you wouldn't kill a gym leader?" Giovanni gulped.  
  
"No, I'm not like you." Ash turned his eyes away.  
  
"Ash, oh, thanks so much. So, how can I prove myself to you, name anything." Giovanni was reassured.  
  
"Run Giovanni, run away and never return." Ash growled.  
  
"Yes, of course." Giovanni began to slink off, Ash watched him carefully. "As you with your majesty!" Giovanni threw a rock in Ash's face. He cried out in pain as the rock left a scar on both cheeks. Giovanni saw Ash's moment of weakness and used it as an advantage. He jumped onto him and they began to fight. Giovanni strangled Ash to the ground. But, Ash kicked him in the stomach and he got up. They leaped for each other and grappled. Ash got hit in the shoulder and cried in pain. Ash tried to hit with his left, but missed, he tried with his right but Giovanni blocked with his right. Ash got free and punched Giovanni back. Giovanni regained his ground and hit Ash in the jaw. Ash fell to his back and landed in front of the ledge. Giovanni made one last leap for Ash, but Ash chose to use Misty's trick and flipped him off the ledge. He rolled onto the roof and onto the floor. Ash turned onto his stomach and looked down. The others watched the Rockets gather around Giovanni.  
  
"Giovanni, Rockets!" Ash yelled and everyone looked up to the ledge. "You are now seen as the enemy to all, everyone has seen and heard. You are all hereby banished to remain in Viridian City forever. Giovanni and every Rocket here, your descendants as well. Here me now and obey, or feel the wrath again." Giovanni and the Rockets shamefully returned to Viridian City to remain forever confined. The rain began to fall and the fire was put out. Ash walked down the ledge and everyone gathered to meet him. Misty's sisters patted him, Misty and Ash's mom hugged him.  
  
"Ahem?" Prof. Oak hinted. Everyone came to his house. Ash understood. He climbed up the stairs and as the town watched, Prof. Oak gave him his last Pokeball, and in it, Ash's first Pokemon. Gary and the other three trainers came outside. Ash hugged Prof. Oak. "It's time." Prof. Oak blushed and Ash and the others walked down Prof. Oak's steps. The town watched their future come before them. Ash looked to the sky.  
  
"Remember." His dad's words echoed in his mind. Ash nodded to himself, he had. The trainers held up their Pokeballs and the town cheered. Ash looked at his mom to see drops of water on her proud, smiling face. He didn't know if they were rain or tears, but he knew they were probably both.  
  
Prologue.  
  
Pallet had been back to normal for a long time now, the rest of Kanto as well. The town came to celebrate the return of the new Pokemon Master, Ash Ketchum. He was grown up now, so were Misty, Tracey, Brock and Todd. Misty and Ash were married and they stood with their friends on the ledge in front of Ash's house. They hugged as everyone cheered. Then, Prof. Oak broke through the group of friends behind Ash and Misty and came forward with a child. The town rejoiced as they saw. The Pokemon Master of the future had been born. Ash stood proud as he looked at their baby, he had completed the web cycle his dad had once told him. The circle of life, so to say, was complete once again.  
  
The End.. Wait, what has become of Jessy, James and Meowth? Is this really the end? 


End file.
